The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Abelia plant, botanically known as Abelia×grandiflora and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Minedward’.
The new Abelia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in La Ménitré, Maine et Loire, France. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new compact and freely flowering Abelia plants with attractive flower coloration.
The new Abelia plant originated from a self-pollination in July, 2003 of Abelia×grandiflora ‘Edward Goucher’, not patented. The new Abelia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor in October, 2004 as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated self-pollination in a controlled environment in La Ménitré, Maine et Loire, France.
Asexual reproduction of the new Abelia plant by semi-hardwood cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in La Ménitré, Maine et Loire, France since October, 2004 has shown that the unique features of this new Abelia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.